The Magic Within: More than any of his peers, Fichet is testing the limits of transparency, to find the very soul of Meursault's terroirs. It was Meursault's destiny to have its soils revealed in this way: their intense stoniness is magnified by an exceptionally low water table, forcing the vines' roots deep underground.

Fichet's work is a direct outgrowth of a breakthrough that happened three decades ago: René Lafon's decision to bottle his Meursault Clos de la Barre on its own. For a century before, such a thing had been unheard of, as only the most famous vineyards—the premier crus—were ever bottled individually; everything else was blended into Meursault villages. Lafon's innovation not only proved that a lieu-dit (a non-classified vineyard) could say something profound, it drew attention to Meursault's incredible soils—paving the way for the later accomplishments of Jean-Françoise Coche, Jean-Marc Roulot and, of course, René Lafon's son Dominique. But Fichet has carried Lafon's revolution to another level— studying every square inch of earth and stone in his domaine, to make Meursault's purest set of single-climate wines.

Purity & Passion: Even if uneconomical, Fichet would rather produce a very small amount of wine from his best sites than to lose their unique character in a blend. In 1998, his Meursault-Tesson vines yielded little more than four barrels; anyone else would have blended so little wine into their village cuvée. But the Tesson was so magical that Fichet bottled it separately, exclusively in magnum.

Just as Jean-Marc Roulot did until recently, Fichet has flown largely under the world's radar. He began as a grower in 1981 but was forced to rebuild his domaine from scratch in the 1990s, having lost all his best fruit sources—including a piece of Meursault- Perrières—for lack of long-term contracts. But he learned from this experience. By 2000, he had used carefully negotiated long-term fermage and mètayage agreements to create an extraordinary new domaine, brimming with exceptional sites.

No Short Cuts: Fichet's methods reflect his philosophy: he is famously meticulous and abhors taking short cuts. His low yields, the foremost key to quality, are achieved through severe winter pruning rather than by green harvesting. And he believes his wines' expressiveness is enhanced through a patient eighteen-month élevage, with little new oak and by avoiding aggressive lees stirring.

The wines that Jean-Philippe Fichet is making today have few rivals for their class in Burgundy, and they could be unmatched in their transparency and expressiveness. The Best is Yet to Come. As good as Fichet's wines have been up to now, the best lies ahead. His winemaking gets better each year, and so do his holdings, with a coveted piece of the iconic Meursault-Genevrières premier cru acquired in time for the 2006 vintage.

Jean-Philippe Fichet is one of Burgundy's greatest talents— and his wines are every bit as extraordinary as he is. It is an honor to represent this brilliant winemaker for the United States.

"Fichet is a genius, but is probably less well known than he deserves to be because he has no premier cru or grand cru vineyards in Meursault (although he used to have a bit of Perrières, which he lost in 1996 when the owner died). Instead, Fichet is the expert of bringing out the very best from village level ‘Lieux Dits’: name-designated vineyards that aren’t considered to be of premier cru status. With his meticulous viticulture and mastery of long élévage, he is able to fashion complex, ageworthy wines from these sites that put most peoples’ premier cru wines to shame." - Jamie Goode, Wineanorak.com

"'The 2012s will be good but they risk being opulent,' said Fichet. 'The wines have balance and depth, and no rot due to the small clusters and the spaces between the grapes. But the tiny crops are never the best: without enough juice in the grapes, the wines can be too powerful, or even heavy.' Fichet has done almost no settling of the must during the past three vintages and adapts his batonnage to the vintage. In 2012 he did what he described as very little batonnage (some wines were stirred just two or three times, and others up to ten)." - The Wine Advocate 8/2013

Reviews

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2014 Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru, Les Referts, AOCBurghoundRating: 90-93 (6/15/2016)
While reduction once again dominates the nose the fruit seems both ripe and dense. The natural class of a fine Puligny is immediately evident on the elegant and pure medium-bodied flavors that possess a highly seductive mouth feel that continues onto the citrus-tinged, long and impeccably well-balanced finale. As it almost always is this is easily Fichet's best wine in 2014.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2014 Meursault Blanc, Gruyaches, AOCBurghoundRating: 89-91 (6/15/2016)
Reduction flattens the underlying fruit. Otherwise there is good richness to the generous yet refined, round and beautifully well-detailed flavors that culminate in a dry and notably stylish finish. I very much like the sense of energy here and this is worth a look.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2014 Meursault Blanc AOCBurghoundRating: 87-89 (6/15/2016)
A classic Meursault nose features notes of hazelnut, pear and acacia blossom. There is fine richness and vibrancy to the still well-defined middle weight flavors that are presently on the tightly wound side but I suspect that this moderately complex effort will flesh out and thus be accessible after only a few years of bottle age. In sum, this is perfectly competent but not really distinguished.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2014 Bourgogne Blanc AOCBurghoundRating: 88 (6/15/2016)
Wine is 100% from Meursault vines planted in soil with high clay content. The attractively textured and fresh flavors possess good mid-palate fat as well as reasonably good length on the slightly simple finish.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2014 Meursault Blanc, Gruyaches, AOCVinousRating: (91-93) (9/1/2015)
(from 85-year-old vines; tasted at the end of its malolactic fermentation): Stone and orchard fruits complemented by wild herbs, flowers, anise and chlorophyll: smells concentrated. Then chewy, rich and deep on the palate, with a seductive sweetness perfectly buffered by strong saline minerality. Fine-grained, weightless and classically dry, showing a near-perfect sugar/acid balance. The youthfully clenched finish leaves behind notes of lime and stone. The crop level was a solid 45 hectoliters per hectare here in 2014 as there was little hail damage. Fichet's vines are situated at the southern end of this vineyard, which is essentially an enclave within Meursault Charmes but is not classified as premier cru.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2014 Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru, Les Referts, AOCVinousRating: (90-93) (9/1/2015)
Pure aromas of white peach and flowers. Smoky and glyceral-sweet but with lively acidity giving the middle palate a faint hard edge today. Finishes with attractive limey lift but the flavors seem hidden today. This youthfully disjointed wine, which is the highest in residual sugar of these 2014s at 1.6 grams per liter, is hard to assess today.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2014 Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru, Les Referts, AOCVinousRating: 91 (9/15/2016)
Reticent scents of lime, orange zest, spearmint and flowers, with complicating hints of menthol and subtle brown spices. Then more yellow and round in the mouth, with a plumpness more like Meursault. Silky, plush and seamless, with lovely floral lift. This suave, mouthfilling wine finishes smooth and long, with lingering yellow peach and spice flavors and a touch of dusty minerality. Much more harmonious and easygoing in bottle than it was in barrel, and still with a faint impression of sweetness.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2014 Meursault Blanc AOCVinousRating: 89 (9/15/2016)
More open-knit on the nose than the Auxey-Duresses, offering scents of white peach, lavender and fresh herbs. Broader and sweeter in the mouth as well, with ripe stone fruit flavors complemented by a note of spicy oak. Here the harmonious fresh acidity is a bit less biting than that of the Auxey-Duresses but the wine is every bit as long.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2015 Meursault Blanc, Gruyaches, AOCVinousRating: (91-93) (9/1/2016)
Very ripe aromas and flavors of lemon oil, ripe fresh peach, crushed stone and vanilla. Wonderfully fruity, deep wine with real energy and concentration, with its silky texture enlivened by solid acidity (4.17 grams per liter, according to Fichet). Really dusts the teeth and tongue on the long finish. An essence of Chardonnay on calcaire, with terrific old-vines intensity, creaminess and lift--not to mention balance.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2015 Meursault Blanc, Les Chevalieres, AOCVinousRating: (92-93) (9/1/2016)
Lovely ripe limey lift to the yellow peach and crushed stone aromas. Even more minerally in 2015 than the Gruyaches, with harmonious acidity framing and energizing the wine's sweet stone fruit and citrus flavors. Hints at sweetness but this concentrated, very long wine is bone-dry and gripping. A superb example of fully ripe fruit from rocky calcaire soil.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2015 Meursault Blanc AOCVinousRating: (90-91) (9/1/2016)
Very pure aromas of white peach, citrus zest and white flowers. Then silky and pliant on the palate, with sweet citrus fruit flavors showing good grip but no bitterness. Finishes with lovely lemony persistence. Very nicely balanced village Meursault. There's nothing extreme about this set of 2015s

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2015 Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru, Les Referts, AOCVinousRating: (89-92) (9/1/2016)
More exotic on the nose than the Meursault cuvées, offering peach and spice aromas. Fat and sweet in the mouth, showing a bit more alcohol and less inner-palate tension than Fichet's top Meursaults. This wine is likely to need at least a couple years of cellaring to lose its slightly edgy quality.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2015 Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru, Les Referts, AOCBurghoundRating: 90-92 (6/11/2017)
A discreet touch of wood easily allows the aromas of petrol, lemon grass and apple to shine. The rich, full-bodied and utterly delicious flavors possess an overtly opulent and seductive mouth feel while coating the palate on the moderately firm and solidly persistent finish. Once again this isn't a class rendition of fine Referts but there is plenty of like anyway.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2015 Meursault Blanc, Les Chevalieres, AOCBurghoundRating: 89-91 (6/11/2017)
A notably ripe yet very fresh nose of lemon, apple and citrus-inflected aromas stops just short of being exotic. There is equally good freshness to the vibrant medium weight flavors that possess fine mid-palate concentration that coats the mouth on the admirably persistent and refined finish. This is really quite good and should drink well both young and with a few years of bottle age.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2015 Meursault Blanc, Gruyaches, AOCBurghoundRating: 89-91 (6/11/2017)
Once again firm reduction relegates the underlying fruit to the background. Otherwise there is a really lovely inner mouth perfume to the subtly mineral-inflected flavors that also possess a caressing palate impression on the balanced and lingering finish. This isn't super-complex at present though the material appears to be present such that more depth will almost certainly develop and my range presupposes that will occur.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2015 Meursault Blanc AOCBurghoundRating: 88-91 (6/11/2017)
This too is quite aromatically attractive with its assortment of pear, apple, hazelnut and acacia blossom scents. There is fine richness to the vibrant medium weight flavors that possess a succulent mouth feel thanks to the abundance of dry extract that also buffers the moderately firm, clean and dry finish.

Jean-Philippe Fichet 2015 Bourgogne Blanc AOCBurghoundRating: 85-88 (6/11/2017)
The expressive nose offers up notes of petrol, pear and spiced apple. There is both good volume and vibrancy to the delicious middle weight flavors that are on the fruity side and exhibit a touch of finishing warmth. To enjoy young.